YouTube

YouTube Kids

YouTube’s having a baby!

Hello Monday and YouTube got together, and we are happy to announce the birth of our love child, YouTube Kids! A safe place for kids to play.

The story

YouTube has been a portal to the best (and best of the worst) content on the Internet for the last 10 years. We’ve laughed, we’ve cried, we’ve cringed, and enjoyed hours of entertainment. But when it comes to kids, YouTube is often not the best place for unsupervised exploration. We all know how quickly a small child watching baby animals play can accidentally click on a ‘related’ video that has some extreme, adult-only content.

YouTube asked us to help them create a safe video environment that parents can trust, where kids can find amazing content that’s perfect for them, and where both groups can have a blast, together. We designed the entire brand identity, including the product interface. The kid-friendly UI uses icons and tips that any young mind can easily understand. Inspired by our own childhood best friends, invisible pals, and favorite toys, we created an animated character sidekick that guides each child through the app, and grows along with them. The visual identity draws from the original aesthetics of YouTube, the mother brand. It’s fun, quirky and embodies the YouTube Kids brand.

The simple yet sophisticated icon menu lets kids easily find educational-focused content, quickly return to their favorite shows, and explore new content based on their core interests. Most importantly, parents can see what their kids are into, and use smart parental settings to set up viewing limits and timers so the app shuts off just in time for bed. (Even YouTube knows that everyone needs a little break from YouTube.) YouTube Kids was announced and introduced to the public during the Kidscreen Summit by YouTube’s global family and learning team.